Public Involvement Plan Is to Set Forth Expectations and Goals and Strategies
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The East-West Gateway Council of Governments Create Meaningful Engagement Opportunities That Are Accessible to Everyone A Note from the Executive Director The East-West Gateway Council of Governments (EWG) has always had a strong Inside this plan you will find: commitment to public involvement in our regional decision-making processes. Our Board of Directors make transportation-related decisions affecting everything from the vitality of our Regional Planning Matters ................ 2 regional economy to the daily lives of our citizens. Our work impacts our environment and our neighborhoods. Public guidance and advice are a vital consideration in how we allocate Who We Are ....................................... 3 millions of dollars to transportation and other projects here in the St. Louis region. The Public Involvement We are constantly developing new resources, analyzing regional trends through data Planning Process .............................. 4 analysis, and providing technical assistance and education for our member governments and their constituents. Meaningful public involvement is not always easy. We are all aware Mission, Vision and that in today’s fast paced world it is challenging to achieve high levels of engagement on Goal Statement Overview.................. 5 issues that have a longer time horizon or on initiatives that are not in our own backyards. But it is our obligation and mission to educate, inform and involve. Our process of engaging the Our Commitment to the public must give ALL people a variety of opportunities to influence public decision-making. Community ........................................ 6 The purpose of the East-West Gateway Public Involvement Plan is to set forth expectations and Goals and Strategies......................... 7 procedures for public involvement in our region’s transportation planning and other processes. Federal funders provide lots of guidance about what we MUST do but we have “wide latitude to The Agency’s Core Plans ............... 10 determine how, when and how often specific public involvement measures should take place, and what specific measures are most appropriate.” This is a huge responsibility and we don’t Title VI Program Policy..................... 12 take it lightly. This document outlines our resources and approach but most importantly it outlines specific public involvement goals and strategies that our staff will work to achieve in the coming Tracking and years. Evaluation ........................................ 12 This plan benefitted from the time and expertise of many people. We received invaluable Current Engagement Tools ............. 13 input from an advisory committee of community members, suggestions from focus groups and a public survey. This plan will change and grow as East-West Gateway continues to Conclusion ...................................... 15 engage our political leaders, businesses, residents and community organizations. Public involvement starts with you. I invite all our partners and stakeholders to become involved Appendix ......................................... 16 in regional planning discussions with us and in your community. It is only through your involvement that we can truly create a regional agenda that is meaningful. Ed Hillhouse Community Connections | 1 EWG is designated by the federal government as the region’s Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), charged with coordinating transportation planning for the St. Louis metropolitan region. This includes roadway construction and Regional Planning maintenance projects, as well as bus, rail, Matters pedestrian, and bicycle projects from bridges that span our rivers to streetscape improvements in our neighborhoods. Regional planning might not seem like the most exciting topic. Every day we are bombarded with Allocating transportation dollars for specific requests for our time and attention and it is often projects and programs is a huge responsibility. hard to find the time to PARTICIPATE, especially EWG staff considers a number of federal when the issue doesn’t seem to affect us directly requirements, such as the need to conform at this moment. Moreover, when we deal with big to federal air quality standards and inclusive regional issues, like planning for regional safety public involvement, in our decision making. In and security, planning for a sustainable future, addition, we must work with limited transportation planning for new levees, planning for future funding made available by federal, state, and business, planning for the needs of our changing local sources to pay for projects. Our needs population, planning for future land use, or far outweigh our resources so we make tough planning for future infrastructure needs, it is often decisions that balance many regional needs. hard to believe that our voice or opinion could be heard in a meaningful way. The advice and input of a wide range of stakeholders is critical to making good regional The East-West Gateway Council of Governments decisions. Stakeholders include individuals and (EWG) undertakes many different types of groups alike. They include citizens, business regional planning activities, in partnership with owners, environmental and civic organizations federal, state, local governments and nonprofit and advocacy groups that represent the needs organizations. We understand that our decisions of the underserved/underrepresented-including affect all of our region’s citizens and therefore low income, minority, elderly, and disabled this public involvement plan works to create populations. avenues for you to participate in all of our planning activities. Your Voice Makes a Transportation Difference Impacts Each of Us Each of our stakeholders has a different perspective, a different set of needs and EWG is responsible for a wide variety of regional interests that East-West Gateway hears and planning activities but none more highly visible considers. Public involvement encompasses than the transportation planning and funding the process and the methods used by EWG All citizens ... decisions for the St. Louis region. Transportation to inform and involve the public in regional has a tremendous impact on a wide range must be involved issues and decisions. It is required by the of regional activities and institutions. Our federal laws that guide metropolitan planning in regional transportation system makes it possible for us organizations. But, it is also a valued tool we use to get where we want to go, as well as to enjoy discussions to ensure that investments made by state and products and services from all over the world. It local governments utilizing public dollars are surrounding is a driving force behind our region’s economic meaningful and meet the needs of our citizens health and our ability to grow. social, economic, and other stakeholders. We will work diligently through this plan to reach you. Please join us and environmental, In the St. Louis metropolitan region, our vast PARTICIPATE. transportation system includes the Mississippi community River, Lambert St. Louis International Airport and development and several regional airports, MetroLink (light rail), Metro Bus and paratransit services, ports, bike transportation paths and greenways, sidewalks and the many planning decisions local or state roadways and bridges we use each day. 2 | East-West Gateway Council of Governments 2014 Who We Are EWG is the metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for the area, which means that the federal East-West Gateway Council of Governments is a government and the states have vested legal membership organization for local governments authority and responsibility in the agency for in the St. Louis metropolitan area. We cover developing and adopting plans for the region’s eight counties including the city of St. Louis; transportation system. Franklin, Jefferson, St. Charles, and St. Louis counties in Missouri; Madison, Monroe, and St. Any transportation project within the boundaries Clair counties in Illinois. Formed in 1965, EWG of the eight member counties that will be fully provides a forum for the local governments of the or partially funded with federal dollars must be bi-state St. Louis area to work together to solve contained in plans that are formally adopted by problems that cross jurisdictional boundaries. the Board of Directors. Our 24-member Board of Directors is comprised of the chief elected officials from our eight Transportation planning is not simply an counties and numerous other elected officials. exercise in design and engineering. It requires understanding and addressing the complex EWG’s designation as a regional council of relationship between mobility and the region’s governments (COG) means that the agency economy, community, and ecology. Its final has the civic responsibility to set the table for product is an evolving transportation investment cooperative planning and problem-solving strategy to serve the region’s economic vitality among and between any of its member and broad quality of life goals. local governments who believe that they can accomplish better things by working together The tools we use include population and than by acting separately. Although much of employment estimates, land use and this cooperative planning takes place among transportation facility inventories and maps, the eight major jurisdictions of the region, it is environmental quality assessments, computer not uncommon to find several small cities and models of existing and future travel patterns, towns clustered